A woman named Bree Newsome just scaled the flagpole in front of the South Carolina state capitol and took down the Confederate flag. She was then arrested.

Little sister, “badass” doesn’t come close to what you are. How deep is our river?

Your elders look on you with such love, so much emotion, so much joy. You are a flower that has bloomed regardless of endless winter, a sunbeam that has escaped the avalanches of snow. You are our flag. It is you, as yourself, as your history and culture, outrage and sorrow, we salute. Blessed be.

As for your partner in liberation, James Tyson, we embrace, honor, and cherish him as well.